STAND. COM. REP. NO. 591

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1093

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1093, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL READINESS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a statewide school readiness program to prepare young children for entry into kindergarten.  

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Board of Education, Department of Human Services, City and County of Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, University of Hawaii System, Castle and Cooke Hawaii, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education, Good Beginnings Alliance, Hawaii Business Round Table, Kamehameha Schools, Partners in Development Foundation, The Queens Health Systems, Special Education Advisory Council, and fifty-five individuals.  Your Committee received written comments on this measure from Hawaii Pacific Health.

 

     Your Committee finds that many young children enter kindergarten without the behavioral and learning skills necessary to succeed in school.  These children will be better prepared to enter school if they are provided access to school readiness services that address physical, cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional development.  Your Committee believes that the creation of a school readiness program that prioritizes these services for low- and middle-income children will better prepare these children to thrive in an educational environment.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Clarifying that "low- and moderate-income families" have an income of no more than two hundred fifty per cent of federal poverty level for the purposes of receiving priority for participation in the school readiness program;

 

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion on the measure; and

 

(3)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1093, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1093, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair